Ratings & Rankings
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Colored bars represent the range of average firm ratings. Black line is this firm's rating.

Insider Rating

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Overall
Firm vs. all biglaw

Minimum

5.13

Mean

7.58

Maximum

8.91

Compensation

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Overall
Firm vs. all biglaw

Minimum

4.14

Mean

8.00

Maximum

9.67

Hours

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Overall
Firm vs. all biglaw

Minimum

4.11

Mean

7.22

Maximum

9

Training

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Overall
Firm vs. all biglaw

Minimum

3.38

Mean

7.11

Maximum

10

Culture & Colleagues

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Overall
Firm vs. all biglaw

Minimum

5.77

Mean

8.11

Maximum

9.6

Firm Morale

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Overall
Firm vs. all biglaw

Minimum

3.93

Mean

7.44

Maximum

9.83

More Ratings

LeverageAttorneys:Equity Partners

4.3:1

Hours ExpectationStated/Real

2000

Compensation

A+

Hours

A+

Training

A+

Culture & Colleagues

A+

Firm Morale

A+

Chambers Top Departments

Climate Change
Tax
Technology & Outsourcing

Rankings Roundup

Vault #34
AMLaw #1

What do these ratings mean?

from Brian Dalton, Breaking Media Director of Research

The ATL School and Firm Insiders Survey asks self-identified current students,
alumni, and practicing lawyers to rate major aspects of life at their law school (academics, social
life, clinical training, career services, financial aid advising) and/or law firm (compensation,
hours, morale, culture, training). We then translate these ratings into letter grades, where the
mean score for each particular ratings category is the equivalent of a “B.”

We require a minimum threshold of responses for each institution before we publish any survey-based
ratings content. Using a standard formula for statistical validity, we adhere to a threshold that
gives us an 85% confidence level and a 10% margin of error. The precise threshold number will of
course vary depending on the size of the individual institution. For example, for a law firm of
1,000 attorneys, we would require 50 responses in order to publish ratings for the firm.

Top Practice by Headcount and Top Schools data is provided by
Leopard Solutions. Leopard Solutions
is a leading provider of attorney data to legal recruiters, law firms and law schools. We track
attorneys in over 1500 law firms around the country and document their practice area, specialties,
honors, languages advanced degrees and more. We provide an overview of each law firm as well as
detailed information on individual attorneys. The data can be used to track trends, movements,
growth and more.

Leverage is the number of attorneys minus equity partners, divided by equity partners.

Latest news from Baker & McKenzie

Recent Headlines from Above the Law

Throughout 2014, along with our friends at Good2BSocial, ATL once again researched the social media practices of law firms. Today we publish the first component of our findings: our second annual Social Law Firm Index, where we identify which specific firms are making the most effective use of social media.

* George Zimmerman was arrested for aggravated assault and domestic violence with a weapon. His lawyer said his client “has not been lucky with the ladies.” He hasn’t been lucky with being a decent human being, either. [USA Today]

* Lawrence McCreery, the Hawaii lawyer who licked a client’s ear and inspired the judge on his case to call him a “dirty old man,” has had his harassment conviction upheld on appeal. Get excited, he’s still got a law license, ladies. [Associated Press]

* We may soon see same-sex marriage bans in three states struck down, as the Fifth Circuit “appeared poised” to do so after oral arguments on Friday. Roberta Kaplan, our 2013 Lawyer of the Year, delivered a standout performance in arguing against Mississippi’s ban. [BuzzFeed]

* What do Sidley Austin, Baker & McKenzie, Reed Smith, Hogan Lovells, and Skadden Arps have in common? Their names were used in phishing emails to scam people out of their money. Some might say that’s business as usual. [Crain’s Chicago Business]

* An arrest was made in the forcible rape of a woman — presumably a law student — that took place in the stacks of the Southern University Law Center’s library last semester. The accused rapist is currently behind held without bond. [WBRZ]

* Baker & McKenzie was bumped from the top spot in the Global 100 last year when DLA Piper swooped in to steal the firm’s glory. This year, B&M is back with a vengeance, and richer than ever. Take that, DLA dopes. [Am Law Daily]

* “I’m pretty sure I just got fired.” Before the bud business was big enough for Biglaw, the mere suggestion of going green was allegedly enough to warrant some pretty major disciplinary action from a leading law firm. [National Law Journal]

* Judge Thomas Griesa is toying with holding Argentina in contempt for saying that it didn’t default. Argentina struck back with the social media hashtag #GrieFault. Clever. [DealBook / New York Times]

* Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s defense team has an expert who says that any jury in Massachusetts will be tainted because of the “inflammatory” news coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing. [WSJ Law Blog]

* The ABA’s new Task Force on the Financing of Legal Education held its first public hearing to try to figure out why law school tuition is high. The ABA is so late to the party it’s not even funny. [ABA Journal]

* Stopped like traffic: Two of Gov. Chris Christie’s former aides properly asserted their Fifth Amendment rights and won’t have to give up docs relating to the Bridgegate scandal. [Bloomberg]

* Armed with a privacy curriculum developed at Fordham, several law schools are trying to teach middle-schoolers how to manage their online reputations. Selfies and the Law should be fun. [Associated Press]

* Alex Hribal, the suspect in the Pennsylvania stabbing, was charged as an adult on four counts of attempted homicide and 21 counts of aggravated assault. Our thoughts remain with those injured. [CNN]

* A Texas woman was convicted of murdering her boyfriend by bludgeoning him in the head with the 5-inch stiletto heel of a pair of blue suede pumps. The true crime is that they weren’t peep-toes. [ABC News]